Fifty women came saying that they were pressured to swing

Regarding this, Jess Phillips told us: “Don’t even train your moderators on your website. They should be ashamed of themselves.”

Unlike other swinging sites, FabSwingers does not require proof of identity, which makes it difficult for police to identify suspects when allegations are made. It also means that a banned user can create a new account – although FabSwinger says it can detect it without explaining how to do so.

Fabswinger told the BBC that the moderation process will involve up to five site managers, with moderators reporting to them, along with AI and “automated controls”.

Since 2023, the site has been cited in at least 329 police reports across the UK – according to a freedom of information request by the BBC – including rape, sexual offences, coercive control, harassment, abuse, stalking, assault and possession of extreme pornography. Not that FabSwingers was responsible for what was alleged in the reports, though.

Jess Phillips said she believed the site had “broken” online safety legislation, urging regulator Ofcom to “take it very, very seriously now and shut it down”.

Ofcom said it was “deeply concerned” by the BBC’s findings and was speaking to the website’s providers but had not yet launched an investigation.

Most of the women who spoke to the BBC wanted to thank Ruth O’Grady, the subject of the Swingers podcast, for sharing her story.

“I’m still not at the point where I want my loved one to know things about my past,” one woman told us. But now I feel a little lonely.

If you would like to contact the BBC’s Catherine Nye and the Swingers investigative team for this story, you can email her. swingersinvestigation@bbc.co.uk, External

Further research by Emily Parsons